Wendy was not surprised by Windy's statement. Back in the mental hospital, she had already heard Windy’s voice from those useless doctors’ phones.

“So what?” Wendy said calmly. “Windy, you like Ron, right? But unfortunately, we’re still not divorced.”

Wendy was still in great pain, but she didn’t back down. So, she jabbed Windy where it hurt most.

Windy was so angry that her eyes went wide. But then, as if she remembered something, a smile appeared on her face again.

“Yes, I like him. Wendy, if you don’t divorce him, I have planned hundreds ways to ruin you. Today will be one of them,” said the younger twin.

Before Wendy could understand what Windy meant, she was suddenly pushed hard. Her body rolled straight down the snowy mountain.

Ron came back with the gloves. When he saw this scene, his heart almost stopped. His eyes instinctively looked toward Wendy and his body moved in her direction.

A flash of jealousy passed through Windy’s eyes. Suddenly, she screamed loudly.

“Ronnie!! I’m here!!”

Ron didn’t have time to think.

He hesitated for only one second, then turned around towards Windy's direction instead. She was about to fall down the mountain too.

Wendy’s was silent in shock. Ron's wife was at the brink of death but he chose Windy instead.

Her heart felt completely shattered as her body slowly froze in the snow. It was as if all her love disappeared in an instant.

***

Before her eyes opened, the strong smell of disinfectant filled her nose firsthand. Upon waking up, Wendy felt her hand being tightly held.

She looked over, and it was Ron... the very man who had abandoned her. This time though, Ron looked terrible. Dark circles were under his eyes, and his eyes were red.

When Ron saw her wake up, his eyes lit up. He had never been this scared in his life.

When Wendy was sent to the hospital, her eyes were closed, and colors were drained from her face. No matter how much he called her name, she didn’t respond.

Wendy was treated in the emergency room for a while. During the time, Ron had waited outside. Due to physical and mental assessment on Wendy, the doctor almost gave her a critical condition notice.

Now, seeing Wendy alive, Ron couldn’t stop his tears. “Wen… you’re finally awake. I was really scared to death. I didn’t mean to leave you. It was just too urgent, and Winny once saved my life…”

Those familiar excuses again. Wendy felt a slight pain in her chest, mixed with a new kind of deep irritation.

She couldn’t stand it anymore and interrupted him. “So what? I don’t want to know your story with her. Whatever happened between you two has nothing to do with me.”

Wendy's words stunned Ron. He never expected her to react like that. Feeling uneasy, he tried to hold her hand.

But then, Ron's assistant whispered, “Mr. Lugner, something happened to Ms. Windy…”

After hearing that, that familiar guilty look appeared on Ron’s face again. “I’ll be right back, okay Wen?”

Wendy watched Ron left in hurry. Her fingers unconsciously tightened around the blanket. Her breathing got a pace faster.

Before she could rest for long, Ron’s bodyguards suddenly appear in the room and forcibly took her to the Blooms’ estate.

They were rough, and her fair arms were pulled until they turned red. Ron was clearly angry at Wendy, but when he saw her frown in pain, his anger turned into pity.

At that moment, Windy spoke with a fake sadness, “Big sister, I know you hate me for taking Mom and Dad’s love from you. But why are you so cruel to curse me?”

Windy acted as if she was in intense fear. In her agitation, she threw herself into Ron’s arms. He tried to push her away, but he failed and triggered Windy to react even more strongly.

From Wendy’s point of view, it looked like Ron was simply holding Windy. So she forced herself to suppress the jealousy and slowly stood up.

“I moved out when I was 20. I’ve never come back to live here even once. What makes you said I put a curse in this place?” Wendy pointed at the creepy dolls in the room.

The Blooms had obviously expected her words. Murray looked at her with pain and accused her. “If it’s not you, then who else would it be? You hated your sister so much and had bullied her since childhood! There’s a recorder inside the doll. That voice is yours, Wen!”

Hannah took out the recorder and pressed the button. [Doll, oh doll… I hope you can help me destroy Windy, make her disappear from my world forever…]

Wendy’s pupils widened. After a moment of shock, she quickly calmed down. “Guys, this is the age of AI. It’s easy to fake someone’s voice!”

Seeing that Ron was starting to hesitate, a cruel light flashed in Windy’s eyes. She cried even harder. “Wen, why are you treating me like this? I’m your own twin! If you hate me so much, I might as well just kill myself!”

Her words stirred everyone’s emotions, especially Ron. He considered Windy as his savior in the past, so hearing her talk about death triggered his anger.

“Wen, be good. Apologize to Windy. Then let the priest take a bowl of your heart’s blood to break the curse. After that, everything will be forgiven." Even though Ron believed Wendy was responsible for the curse, he was still hesitant on acting fully cruel.

Wendy raised her head suddenly out of shock. “My heart’s blood? Break a curse? Ron, are you crazy? You actually believe all of this bullshit?!”

Ron ignored her and signaled to the bodyguards behind him. As the guards walked toward her, Wendy felt like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. But she didn’t give up. She grabbed something nearby and threw it at the bodyguards before running as fast as she could.

Wendy forgot that these guards were professionally trained. Before she could even take two steps out the door, they dragged her back inside the estate.

Ron looked at her, disappointment flashing in his eyes. “Wen, it’ll be quick. It won’t hurt.”

The leading guard walked toward her with a knife. Wendy was terrified that tears flowed uncontrollably. Even so, she never begged for mercy.

The knife was sharp. When it cut into her skin, cold sweat covered her forehead. She bit her lip to keep from screaming, until blood flowed from her mouth.

The sound of blood dripping echoed in the huge building. She looked up at the people in the room... they were supposed to be her closest family. So, why? Hatred burned in her heart like a raging fire.

After her blood was taken, all her strength seemed to leave her body. She felt hopeless.

Seeing how weak she was, Ron felt aching in his heart. He pushed Windy away and stepped forward, wanting to hold Wendy in his arms.

When Ron approached her, Wendy only saw that it was the King of Hell trying to snatch her own life. She panicked and trashed to avoid him. Nausea in her stomach was so strong she almost threw up.

She didn’t know where the strength came from, but she pushed Ron to the ground and ran out of the Blooms’ estate as if she were escaping for her life.

Ron wanted to chase after her, but when Windy fainted, he gave up.

***

Wendy ran with all her strength. She just wanted to escape from her family's house that had become her forever nightmare. But she didn’t notice that everyone on the street was staring at her with disgust.

Blood was still seeping from her chest, staining her blue-and-white hospital gown. Her face was deathly pale. She was already at her limit. When she collapsed on the ground, the disgust in people’s eyes could no longer be hidden. One by one, they walked up and started throwing things at her.

Some threw eggs. Some threw bottles of water.

They kept cursing her. “It’s that doctor! The surgery failed and she blamed her own sister!”

“She even cursed her own family's house and wished her sister's death! How can someone be this evil?!”

“Ugly people cause trouble! I used to not believe in face-reading, but after seeing Wendy, I believe it now.”

Wendy stood there in a daze, listening to all of this. He felt so defeated. She never expected that Ron would use such a method to take revenge on her for Windy.

She thought her heart would hurt so much that she couldn’t breathe. To her surprise, it only twitched slightly before becoming completely numb. Soon, her body was covered in wounds from being hit. Since her energy had been exhausted, Wendy could only protect her head with her arms.

When cold water splashed onto her face, her freckles slowly faded. Seeing that she didn’t resist, the crowd felt bored and gradually left.

Struggling to stand up, Wendy forced herself to keep going. Unfortunately, several familiar figures appeared beside her and tightly restrained her.

This time, what woke her up was burning fire. When she opened her eyes and saw sparks everywhere, Wendy felt her chest tighten.

Ron would never want her dead. The ones who wanted her life were the Blooms all along!

The fire grew bigger and bigger. The smoke made her cough violently. Due to the constant harassment from the bystander earlier, blood was now flowing from her forehead too.

Even though fear of death was slowly eating her away, Wendy tried to save herself with whatever was left in her. Eyes darted right and left, finally saw a place where the fire had not fully spread yet. She clenched her fists, as if encouraging herself.

It’s okay. Being burned was still better than dying.

So, Wendy waited for the right moment and was about to rush out. Suddenly, someone splashed gasoline on her. The flames easily caught the gasoline trail and blocked all of her exits!

The person responsible was standing there, arms crossed, looking at her proudly. Wendy would never forget that voice, even if she died.

“Wendy, I already warned you to divorce Ronnie. I found out you're still with him after you woke up. You didn't even bring up the divorce conversation with him!"

"Well, since you didn't listen to me, this is your punishment. Besides, you shouldn’t have been alive in the first place.”

Huh? Why was Windy so sure that Wendy didn't mention about divorce to Ron?

Wait a minute...

Wendy remembered she had seen a black interface flash on Ron’s phone. So it was a listening device after all!

Wendy couldn’t believe it. Since when did she love Ron so deeply that she had tolerated all this?

Looking at Windy’s smug face, Wendy spoke with sarcasm. “Windy, you blamed the wrong person. You should ask Ron why he won’t divorce me. Why he won’t let me go.” Wendy was implying that Ron still loves her.

With that, Windy’s jealousy caught up. She clenched her teeth. “You’re about to die and you still had the guts to say that?! Bah! But it doesn’t matter!"

"You're dead today anyway. Once you’re gone, Ronnie will eventually fall in love with me.” As her words ended, the wooden house began to make loud cracking sounds.

BOOM!